Animation studio Lobo has signed Minerva Content partners Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin to handle East Coast representation, and Kitty Monaghan and her Monaghan Talent Rangers for the Midwest. The reps come aboard on the heels of the São Paulo, Brazil-based Lobo opening a NYC office led by new EP Luis Ribeiro. Lisa Houck at Salon is covering the West Coast….
EditShare, a tech company known for shared storage and media management solutions, has appointed Peter Lambert to serve as worldwide sales director. An industry business development executive with more than 25 years of experience, Lambert recently held EditShare’s director of sales position for the Asia Pacific region. Lambert joined EditShare in 2014. He previously was VP of sales and marketing at Bright Systems, chairman of Nucoda (Digital Vision) and country manager for Avid Technology UK…..
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
